This week, James E. Craigie, MD, of The Center for Natural Breast Reconstruction answers your question.
Question: Do you have a maximum BMI for breast reconstruction surgeries?
Answer: Thanks for your question. The risk for some complications associated with breast reconstruction can be elevated in patients who are overweight. We use BMI as a general guideline to evaluate someone’s risks for complications before surgery. We consider more than the BMI and look at the type of surgery being performed and any other individual risk factors each person may have. When the BMI is 30 or more we discuss weight loss before surgery to lower the chances of significant wound healing problems and or a DVT ( blood clots in the legs). A DVT can be a life threatening problem so we take the risk very seriously and do anything possible to make surgery as safe as possible.
I hope I answered your question let me know if you need more information.
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